Portable apparatus for fastening casings and the like



June 27, 1967 M. J. G. TIPPER PORTABLE APPARATUS FOR FASTENING CASINGS AND THE LIKE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 1, 1964 INVENTOR. MAY/V490 J: 6?, 77PPE? June 27, 1967 M. J. G. TIPPER PORTABLE APPARATUS FOR FASTENING CASINGS AND THE LIKE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 1, 1964 IINVENTOR.

ii it v M4 maven J. 6 77 m? June 27, 1967 M. J. G. TIPPER PORTABLE APPARATUS FOR FASTENING CASINGS AND THE LIKE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 1, 1964 INVENTOR Mxrmww J16. 72 954 BY United States Patent 3,327,514 PORTABLE APPARATUS FQR FASTENING (IASINGS AN?) THE LIKE Maynard J. G. Tipper, Oakland, Calif, assignor to Rhcem Manufacturing Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of California Filed Oct. 1, 1964, Ser. No. 400,688 11 Ciaims. (Cl. 72-416) This invention relates to an apparatus for applying a permanent fastener around an article and is particularly adapted for applying a metal clip or staple to the end of a flexible or deformable casing or bag enclosing a product such as foodstuff. The present invention is adapted to achieve substantially the same object as that achieved by my copending application Ser. No. 380,260 filed June 30, 1964, and now Patent No. 3,224,083 issued Dec. 21, 1965. However, the manner of operation of the instant device is distinct from that shown in the copending application.

The main object of the present invention is the provision of a portable device which may be grasped in the hand of the user and employed to secure a generally U- shaped fastener around an article such as a casing.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a relatively lightweight manually manipulatable tool for securing a casing or the like and which tool is adapted to apply a relatively heavy fastener despite the fact that the tool is sufiiciently small and light to be readily manipulated by one hand of the user.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a manually operable tool which is capable of not only translating the clip from the clip magazine a considerable distance to the die on which the clip is deformed but which also develops a relatively large amount of force to perform the work necessary to deform 0r crimp a relatively heavy staple.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification and from the drawings wherein:

- FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the tool showing thesame in an intermediate position prior to the clip deforming step.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the device in a position after the clip has been deformed to its fina-l shape.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of the die end of the tool corresponding to the position of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the tool with the punch in fully retracted position.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the tool of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view through the die end of the tool taken in a plane indicated by lines 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of the tool taken in a plane indicated by lines 7-7 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of the tool taken in a plane indicated by lines 8-8 of FIG. 5.

The tool includes an elongated housing generally designated 1 which is of a size to permit the same to be manually manipulated by one hand of the user. Said housing is generally channel shaped along the greater portion of its length to provide an upper wall 2, opposed sidewalls 3 and 4 and an end wall 5. The end wall 5 may be considered the outer end of the housing and it will be seen that the housing 1 is formed adjacent its inner end with a pair of downwardly extending ears 6, 7 in continuation of sidewalls 3, 4 respectively. A pin 10 extending between said ears 6, 7 (FIG. 8) serves as a pivot for a manually actuatable lever generally designated 11.

Adjacent the ears 6, 7 the housing -1 is formed with a pair of integral flanges 12, 13 which provide upwardly di- 3,327,514 Patented June 27, 1967 "ice rected surfaces on which a die support member generally 15 is supported. As best seen in FIG. 5, die support 15 is elongated in the same direction as housing 1 and is fixedly secured to flange 13 :by means of screws 17. Screws 13 similarly secure die support 15 to flange 12 and at the same time are passed through suitable apertures in a base 19 of a clip magazine generally designated 20.

Die support 15 is provided with a longitudinally extending track 22 along which a clip is adapted to be translated by a punch member generally designated 23. The housing 1 is similarly formed with a track 24 for receiving therein the relatively fiat punch element 25 of punch member 23.

The free end of die support 15 that is remote from housing 1 is formed with a rectangular recess for receiving therein a die 28 against which a clip 29 (FIG. 3) is adapted to be deformed by the punch element 25. Said die 28 may be secured to the die support 15 by means of screws 30. Adjacent die 28 there is provided a swingab-le guard 32 which is received in a relatively large and shallow rectangular recess in die support 15. Said guard 32 is secured through die support 15 by screws 33.

The track 22 that receives the clips 29 and punch element 25 is slantingly disposed relative to a horizontal longitudinally extending plane through the tool as best seen in FIG. 7; this is to permit one leg of the clip 29 to engage arcuate grooves 37 formed in die 28 and to permit the other leg of the clip to engage a similar arcuate groove 38 also formed in die 28. Additional details of construction of the die end of die support 15 and variants thereof that may be employed with the instant invention may be seen in my copending application Ser. No. 398,657, filed Sept. 23, 1964, and now Patent No. 3,239,926, issued on Mar. 15, 1966.

Since the track 22 is slantingly disposed relative to the horizontal as shown in FIG. 7, the magazine 20 is complementarily slanted so that the clips 29 are fed into the track 22 in a direction at right angles to the plane of said track. Automatic feeding of the clips 29 to the track 22 may be accomplished in various ways one of which is shown in the drawings as comprising .a generally U-shaped clip pusher member 40 secured to the end of an elongated flexible flat spring 41 which may be wound at its opposite end around a pin 42 rotatably mounted in a boss 44 integral with base 19 of the magazine. The pin 42 may be provided with a screw driver kerf to permit rotating the same to effect the desired tension in spring 41. Said pin 42 maybe fixed in the desired position in any convenient manner as by a lock nut (not shown).

The punch element 25 of punch member 23 is fixedly secured at its outer end as by welding to an elongated rod 45 (FIG. 4) which may be fitted at one end within an elongated slOt 46 formed in the outer end of punch element 25 and which may be welded thereto so that the rod 45 and punch element 25 become a unitary member. Rod 45 is passed through an aperture 47 in end wall 5 of housing 1 and is provided at its free end with a spherical knob preferably formed of plastic which may be screwthreadedly secured to said free end. Said knob is indicated at 48 and is adapted to be grasped by one hand of the user for retracting the punch member 23 to the position shown in FIG. 4 in which position the punch element 25 may translate the next clip 29 from magazine 20 along the track 22 to the die 28. For the purpose of limiting outward movement of the punch member 23 a tubular member 49 is secured to rod 45 and is in abutment at its inner end with a washer 50 fixedly secured to rod 45. A helical compression spring 52 is interposed between the washer 50 and the end wall 5 of housing 1 for the purpose of urging the punch member 23 toward the die 28 at all times.

Fixedly secured to the inner end of the lever 11 is a link 53 secured to said lever by pin 54. The free end of link 53 is adapted to be received within a groove 55 (FIG. 2) formed in punch element 25 and which groove cooperates with the free end of link 53 to provide a detent means. The link 53 and lever 11 to which it is secured are urged in a counterclockwise direction at all times as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 by means of a helical extension spring 56 which is secured at one end to link 53 and at its other end to a pin 57 fixed to housing 1. At this point it will be apparent, when knob 48 is grasped to retract the punch member 23 to the position of FIG. 4, the outer end of link 53 will be received within the detent groove 55 and, because of the action of spring 56, the punch member 23 will be frictionally held in the position of FIG. 4. However, the operator may release punch member 23 simply by rotating the lever 11 slightly in a clockwise direction to remove the link 53 from detent groove 55 thus permitting the punch to be driven under the urgency of compression spring 52 against the lowermost clip 29 in magazine 20 and then along the track 22 until the clip engages the die 28. Such a position of the mechanism is shown in FIG. 1.

In order to minimize impact and to provide a small amount of resistance to further movement of the punch member 23, a short compression spring 59 is preferably interposed between the end wall of housing 1 and the knob 48.

Referring again to die support and as best seen in FIGS. 3 and 5, the die support is provided with a laterally outwardly opening throat 60 communicating with the track 22 and to a position against the die 28 as seen in FIG. 1.

The operation of the device may now be described. The first step in the operation of the tool is to cock the punch member 23 by pulling the knob 48 away from housing 1 so that said punch member assumes the retracted position shown in FIG. 4 with the link 53 automatically engaging detent 55 to hold the punch member in the retracted position even after the operator releases knob 48. Assuming the operator is right-handed, he then holds the housing 1 in his right hand and feeds the casing or similar article 61 through the throat 60 in die support 15 to a position shown in FIG. 1. With the fingers of his right hand he may then rotate the lever 11 slightly in a clock- Wise direction thereby releasing punch member 23 and permitting spring 52 to project the punch member to the position of FIG. 1 in which position the clip 29 that has been picked up by the punch element 25 rests against the die 28 with one leg of the clip engaging groove 37 and the other engaging groove 38. V

The above operation causes the punch member 23 to assume the position'of FIG. 1 wherein link 53 may be received in slot 46 of punch element 25 and be urged into engagement with the shoulder 63 defined by the inner end of slot 46.

From FIGS. 1 and 2 it will be apparent that an extremely great force may be applied to shoulder 63 of punch element 25 by the link 53 because of the relatively high mechanical advantage obtained through lever 11. After the clip has been deformed to the shape indicated in FIGS. 2 and 3 and the lever 11 is released it will be seen that the spring 59, if properly proportioned, will cause the punch element 25 to be retracted slightly from die 28 so as to free the clip 29 which has been deformed thereby. The guard 32 may be formed of nylon or similar flexible resilient plastic so that the casing 61 and the clip 29 thereon may be pulled laterally outwardly of die support 15 thereby deflecting the guard 32 to the dot-dash position shown in FIG. 6. As may be seen in the copending application Ser. No. 398,657, filed Sept. 23, 1964, guard 32 is formed with a casing receiving recess 64 in which the casing 61 is received and which recess is not sufiiciently wide to pass the deformed clip 29 without deflecting the guard outwardly as explained above.

Tubular member 49 is of such a length as to act as a stop by engaging end wall 5 of housing 1 when the punch member is retracted more than is sufficient to permit engagement of link 53 with detent groove 55.

To facilitate manipulation of housing 1 the same may be provided with an integral upwardly slanting flange 67 adjacent its outer end and a suitable protuberance such as indicated at 68 adjacent the central portion of the device.

It will be apparent that the above described preferred form of the invention permits the clip to be applied quickly and with facility since the operator, after cocking the punch member, may manipulate the device with one hand while holding the casing or similar article 61 with the other hand to perform the above described operations. By providing the lever 11 with the relatively large opening 65 for the fingers of the user, it is a simple matter for the operator to perform the step of swinging the lever slightly in a clockwise direction to release the punch and feed the clip to the die and thereafter swing the lever in a counterclockwise direction to engage link 53 with shoulder 63 and effect the short final stroke required to deform the 7 clip.

The very specific description given above of the preferred form of the invention should not be taken as restrictive thereof as it will be apparent that various modifications in design may be resorted to without departing from the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a clipping device which includes a housing formed with a track for clips, and a die at one end of said track against which a clip is deformed,

a punch member formed at one end for engagement with a clip for urging the latter against said die and provided with means spaced from said one end and adapted to be grasped by the user for retracting said member to a retracted position spaced from said die,

lever means swingably mounted on said housing for movement from an outer to an inner position relative to said housing and vice versa,

detent means operatively connecting said punch member and said lever means for holding said punch member in said retracted position, and

a shoulder on said punch member engageable by said lever means for translating said punch member in response to swinging movement of said lever means toward said housing.

2. A device according to claim 1 wherein a spring urges said punch member toward said die at all times and wherein said detent means is released upon outward movement of said lever means to permit the force of said spring to translate said punch member from said retracted position to a position closely adjacent said die.

3. In a clipping device that includes a housing, a track for clips formed therein, a fixed die at one end of said track and a punch element reciprocable in said track for translating a clip along said track to said die,

a punch member carrying said element and movable from a retracted position with said element spaced from said die to an operative position with said element adjacent said die,

lever means swingably mounted on said housing and operatively connected with said punch member for urging a clip against said die when said punch element is in said operative position, and

detent means operatively connecting said punch member and said lever means for holding said punch member in retracted position.

4. A device according to claim 3 wherein a magazine for clips is carried by said housing for supplying a clip to said track when said punch member is in said retracted position, and a spring urging said punch member toward said die at all times.

1 5. A device according to claim 4 wherein said detent means is released when said lever means is swung outwardly relative to said housing.

6. In a device for fastening a clip to the end of a casing or like article,

a housing adapted to be grasped in one hand of a user,

a die secured to one end of said housing,

a track formed in said housing and communicating at one end with said die,

a magazine on said housing for feeding clips into said track, a punch element in said track and formed at one end to engage a clip for urging the latter against said die,

means adapted to be grasped by the user for moving said punch element to a retracted position spaced from said die and behind a clip in said track,

spring means urging said punch element toward said die at all times,

lever means swingably mounted on said housing and in engagement with said punch element for urging the latter toward said die, and

detent means operatively connecting said element and said lever means for holding said element in said retracted position against the urgency of said spring means.

7. A device according to claim 6 wherein said lever means is swingable outwardly of said housing to release said detent means and permit said spring to urge said element to an operative position adjacent said die, said element being formed with a shoulder engageable by said lever means to permit said element to be forced toward said die from said operative position.

8. A device according to claim 7 wherein a second spring means coacts with said element to retract the same away from said die when the force on said lever means is released.

9. A device according to claim 7 wherein said element is provided with an outwardly opening recess cooperating with one end of said lever means to .provide said detent means and is provided with an elongated slot adapted to receive said one end therein and having an inner end providing said shoulder.

10. A device according to claim 9 wherein third spring means urges said lever means toward said housing at all times.

11. In a device for fastening a clip to the end of a casing or like article:

a housing,

a track formed in said housing adapted .to receive a clip therealong,

a magazine for clips fixed relative to said housing and adapted to supply clips one at a time to said track,

a die at the end of said track adapted to cooperate with a clip for deforming it around such casing,

a punch member reciprocal along said track and adapted to urge such clip into engagement with said die for so deforming said clip,

a lever member swingably mounted on said housing and engageable with said punch member at a first point on the latter for driving the latter toward said die upon movement of said lever member from an outer to an inner position,

spring means urging said punch member toward said die at all times,

said punch member being formed with a detent groove for engagement with said lever member at a second point between said first point and the end of said punch member that engages said clip,

whereby said punch member may be retracted to a cocked position with said one end of said punch member outwardly of said magazine, and whereby said lever member may be moved outwardly to release said lever member from said detent groove and propel said punch member and a clip to a position with said clip closely adjacent said die, and whereby said lever member may be swung inwardly to engage said punch member at said second point for applying a relatively great force to said clip for deforming the same.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,023,112 4/1912 Leaver et a1. 72436 3,225,583 12/1965 Walton et a1. 72436 3,237,290 3/1966 Frank 29-24357 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner. R. D. GREFE, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A CLIPPING DEVICE WHICH INCLUDES A HOUSING FORMED WITH A TRACK FOR CLIPS, AND A DIE AT ONE END OF SAID TRACK AGAINST WHICH A CLIP IS DEFORMED, A PUNCH MEMBER FORMED AT ONE END FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH A CLIP FOR URGING THE LATTER AGAINST SAID DIE AND PROVIDED WITH MEANS SPACED FROM SAID ONE END AND ADAPTED TO BE GRASPED BY THE USER FOR RETRACTING SAID MEMBER TO A RETRACTED POSITION SPACED FROM SAID DIE, LEVER MEANS SWINGABLY MOUNTED ON SAID HOUSING FOR MOVEMENT FROM AN OUTER TO AN INNER POSITION RELATIVE TO SAID HOUSING AND VICE VERSA, DETENT MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTING SAID PUNCH MEMBER AND SAID LEVER MEANS FOR HOLDING SAID PUNCH MEMBER IN SAID RETRACTED POSITION, AND A SHOULDER ON SAID PUNCH MEMBER ENGAGEABLE BY SAID LEVER MEANS FOR TRANSLATING SAID PUNCH MEMBER IN RESPONSE TO SWINGING MOVEMENT OF SAID LEVER MEANS TOWARD SAID HOUSING. 